


A Cool Breeze After the Flames

by WhereverMySITakesMe



Category: Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood & Manga
Genre: Description of Someone Being Burned Alive, F/M, Fever, Hallucinations, Hurt Roy Mustang, Hurt/Comfort, Mustang is Very Nearly Incapable of Having a Serious conversation, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-31
Updated: 2021-01-31
Packaged: 2021-03-17 21:21:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,410
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29106993
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WhereverMySITakesMe/pseuds/WhereverMySITakesMe
Summary: After his fight with Lust, Mustang is left fevered, pained and tormented by nightmares.Thankfully, Hawkeye is there to care for him. And she understands, even if he won't - can' t- explain.
Relationships: Riza Hawkeye/Roy Mustang
Comments: 8
Kudos: 63





	A Cool Breeze After the Flames

Mustang drifted halfway between sleep and waking, enveloped in a warm fog. It would have been peaceful, if it weren’t for the pain. His left side was on fire with agony. He couldn’t remember why or even where he was. Everything was so fuzzy and his head was aching. All he wanted to do was sleep. But he had no hope of doing that while he was in so much pain. Every breath he took made it worse, as the expanding of his lungs made the skin around the edge of his wounds stretch and tear. He tried not to breathe, hoping the burning pain would fade.

It didn’t. Instead, it worsened and began spreading like a fire over his body. He could already feel that fat beneath his skin boiling and the skin itself peeling away as it burned. Every nerve in his body screamed with pain. He was dying, would be dead in seconds but those seconds were stretching on for an eternity as the fire worked its way through skin, muscle and bone, destroying everything in its path.

He forced his eyes open, desperately trying to convince himself that this wasn’t real, he was safe.

Instead, he saw the flames. And behind them, Major Roy Mustang, State Alchemist. He had one arm outstretched and one casually in his pocket. His expression was cold and uncaring. Murderous.

Mustang closed his eyes again, trying to block out the vision, but it didn’t stop. The cruel alchemist was laughing now. Laughing at Mustang, who was still writhing in front of him, close to death and reduced to little more than charred bones and screaming nerves. He could barely breathe. The heat was choking him and the pain left him near-paralysed. But he had to try, had to suck in enough air to scream for help.

“Hawkeye!” His voice came out strangled, weak and shaking with pain and desperation “Hawkeye!”

Immediately, her hand was on his cheek, blissfully cool against his hot skin “I’m here.”

With that, the laughter and the flames vanished. The pain was still there-plenty of it- but it was just his left side rather than his entire body. He groaned with relief as the tension left his already battered body.

“Easy” Hawkeye moved her hand to his forehead, pushing back his sweat-soaked hair “What do you need?”

You,  h e wanted to say.  He needed her cool fingers on his skin to remind him that he  **had** skin,  t hat he  wasn’t being burned alive by a heartless monster of a State Alchemist.

“Water” He said instead. Even now that he wasn’t being tormented by phantom flames he was overheated and soaked with sweat.

“Here” Hawkeye held a glass of water to his lips and tilted it so he could drink. 

He felt the cool liquid all the way down to his stomach but it did little to quell the  furnace li k e heat of his insides.

“Better?” Hawkeye asked, moving the empty glass away.

“A little. Where am I?” He tried to push himself upright to take a look around. He’d barely even thought about moving when his side exploded again. He cradled the screaming injury, panting and soaked with a fresh wave of sweat.

“Lie still.” Hawkeye instructed “You’re in a hospital.  You’ve lost a lot of blood and your wound is infected, so you’re running a fever. You’re on antibiotics and IV fluids, try not to dislodge the drip.”

He nodded obediently and lay still for a moment, trying to piece together his foggy memory. The Fifth Laboratory. Lust. The details were still blurry, but he remembered that Hawkeye had been in danger. He’d been terrified for her “Are you hurt?” 

“I’m just fine, thanks to you” She smiled, but it faded quickly “You should rest” She put her hand on his cheek again, as though trying to reassure herself that he was really there.

He closed his eyes, thinking about the nightmare that had assaulted him. “ I feel like I’m being burned alive”

Hawkeye ’s hand withdrew  from his face “Do you need more painkillers? I’ll get a nurse”

“No.” He said immediately “Stay”

“I’m not a substitute for medicine, Roy”

There was a good response to that somewhere. Something jokey and flirtatious. But Mustang’s head was too full of fog to find it. “It’s not the pain. I can handle the pain” He opened his eyes again, needing her face, to keep him grounded. 

“Then what is it?”

“Ishvall” The word hung in the air.

S he said nothing for a few  seconds,  letting the moment of vulnerability last long enough for  Mustang to get uncomfortable “What time is it?”  He asked, chang ing the subject. 

“About two am, I think”

“You should get some sleep”

“I was sleeping. You woke me”

“I’m sorry”

“I don’t mind”

“Is Havoc okay?” He should have asked earlier. Would have, if his mind had been clearer and his memory sharper.

“He’s not in great shape, same as you. But he’ll pull through. He’s resting right now. Unlike you” She added pointedly.

“I’ll try to sleep soon” He said vaguely. 

Hawkeye smiled wryly “ Even confined to a hospital bed, you won’t  rest ”

Mustang smirked “I’m far too busy to sleep, you know that”

“Too busy chasing after women”

“I’ll have you know, women all over Amestres will be devastated to discover that I’m out of action” Their rapport, the natural back and forth, gave him strength and cleared his head a little. 

“More likely they’ll be devastated not to have been the one to put you in hospital”

Mustang started to laugh, which rapidly turned into a hiss as pain shot  through his body .  He instinctively tried to curl in on himself, which only made  it  worse.

“Mustang?” Hawkeye asked worriedly, putting a hand on his shoulder.

“Don’t make me laugh” Mustang groaned through gritted teeth. He forced himself to lie still and let the spike of pain dissipate.

“I’ll try not to” She gave him a minute to get his breath back, brushing the sweat soaked hair back again. “You know, it won’t kill you to talk about how you feel”

“I don’t know. I’m in pretty bad shape right now. The shock might push me over the edge”

Hawkeye felt his forehead with the back of her hand “I’m surprised you can make quips while this feverish”

“You’re right. In this state, you shouldn’t trust anything I say”

“I’ll be sure to dismiss it as fevered ramblings.” She met his eyes “Tomorrow”

For a moment, he was silent, staring up at her face. 

If there’d been space in the bed he would have asked her to lie next to him. It would be easier to relax if he could feel her body next to his and hear her breathing. He might actually be able to sleep peacefully. And she’d know that he wanted her close, that her presence was comforting.

“Your hands are cold” He said finally “It feels good”

“Hmm” She took his hand in hers, a gently teasing smile on her lips “Will this do?”

“That’s perfect” He squeezed her hand, trying to convey through touch what he was apparently incapable of saying aloud.

“Good” She shifted her fingers in his “Care to tell me what I’m protecting you from?” She kept her tone light, disguising the seriousness of the question.

Mustang stiffened, earning himself a fresh  stab of pain .  He couldn’t tell her that what he  feared most was the monster he used to be. The monster he might still become. She’d blame herself, take responsibility for all of it.  And she wouldn’t forget, no matter what she said.

Her grip on his sweaty fingers tightened “You don’t have to. I’m sorry I asked”

“It’s okay. I’m okay” He took a breath, trying to calm himself without aggravating his wounds. 

As tension in his muscles released, he was left leaden, suddenly more tired than he’d ever been. He yawned, feeling sleep tug at the edges of his mind.

Hawkeye was still watching him with care in her eyes “Get some rest.” She ran her thumb in soothing circles of the backs of his fingers “I’ll be right here”

“You always are”

“Only thanks to you”

He smiled sleepily, letting his heavy eyes  slide  close d “Goodnight Lieutenant”

“Sleep well, Colonel”


End file.
